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Our friends at EagleBank, a local community business bank with fourteen offices in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC, are reminding their customers of the importance of keeping up-to-date with internet and e-mail best practices in order to decrease the chance of fraudulent activity. They have provided the following list of recommendations for those who utilize ACH and wire transfers:
1. Provide the bank with a dollar limit for all individual ACH and wire transfer transactions.
2. Provide the bank with a daily dollar limit for the business for all ACH and wire transfer transactions.
3. Require a second approval for all ACH and wire transfer transactions.
4. Set-up pre-filled ACH and wire templates for common transactions.
5. Require a second token number be entered to send an ACH or wire transfer transaction.
6. Have a dedicated online banking PC that is not used for any email or other internet activity.
7. Monitor your account throughout the day.
For additional information on fraud prevention, you can visit the EagleBank home page at www.eaglebankcorp.com and click on “Phishing Attacks & ID Theft” on the sidebar.
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The United States Postal Inspection Service warns of a scam generated by a phony e-mail message. The phony e-mail, which indicates that it has been sent by Chief Postal Inspector William Gilligan, is sent to potential victims informing them that a parcel has been sent to them containing an ATM card worth $1.5 million. The e-mail also informs the victim that the parcel has been intercepted by the Postal Service and goes on to say that the recipient “should not hesitate” to remit $79 to a return mailing address in order to receive the card.
The entire e-mail is, of course, a fraud and the Postal Inspection Service requests that anyone who has information about this scam contact the Service using a phone number or via a website listed at:
https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/radDocs/consumer/CrimeAlert%20Gilliganemail.pdf
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Have you ever heard of Marcia Sladich? Unless you live in the vicinity of New York City you probably haven’t. And, perhaps that is lucky for you. The New York Times reports that Ms. Sladich has been convicted of running what might be called a mini Ponzi scheme. It can be called mini because her scheme was far less devastating than the scheme originally perpetrated by Charles Ponzi and certainly miniature in relation to the investment scheme orchestrated by Bernard Madoff in more recent years. However, that is probably of little consolation to Ms. Sladich’s friends and fellow church goers who lost more than $15 million due to her scheme.
The Times reports that from 2004 to 2007, Ms. Sladich solicited funds from her friends and neighbors, promising to invest their money and double it within a year. She was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison as the result of a complaint by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Ms. Sladich, who worked as a ticket taker at Giants Stadium, admitted that she used the proceeds of her scheme to pay personal expenses and invest in real estate. To read more about this case, see http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/nyregion/14towns.html
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Forensic Accounting Firm based in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
presented by Bond Beebe, forensic accountants
Hello everyone, and welcome to the Forensic Accounting Blog sponsored by Bond Beebe, a Washington, D.C. based forensic accounting firm of certified public accountants and certified fraud examiners, with offices in Maryland and Virginia We have started this blog to provide a forum to talk about fraud, forensic accounting, forensic investigations, litigation support and their many related issues. As a firm of certified public accountants, we at Bond Beebe constantly deal with the possibility of fraud, whether performing services as auditors, tax specialists or management advisors. And, as forensic accountants, investigators, and advisors, we strive to assist our clients in the detection and prevention of fraud. So, we have set up this site to express our views and pass along information that we hope will be of interest to readers and participants. For more information on forensic accounting, please click here:
Forensic Accounting
Certified fraud examiners and forensic accountants in Washington, D.C.
Although Bond Beebe will sponsor this site and the Certified Fraud Examiners in our firm will be frequent contributors, it is our hope that many of you who are interested in fraud and forensic investigations will feel free to participate with your comments. Also, it is our intent to feature articles by Guest Bloggers from time to time to allow multiple points of view from information technology specialists, attorneys, college professors and other professionals who have devoted their careers to this topic. So, again, we welcome you and look forward to your comments.
